


Love and Hope

by ascientistfortonight



Category: Razia's Shadow
Genre: but all that is brief, shush just trust me with this, warning for spiders blood and death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-23
Updated: 2015-02-23
Packaged: 2018-03-14 17:46:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3419879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ascientistfortonight/pseuds/ascientistfortonight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Adakias is gone, and something feels wrong. Nothing has come of his death. No grand plan fulfilling itself, no magic spell that can make everything alright. Pallis is lost, unsure of what to do. What <i>can</i> he do?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love and Hope

Footsteps down a corridor, pace even, back straight, chin raised, gaze level. The stride of a prince soon to be king, surefooted, confident. Tapestries along the wall, stretching far, farther than he remembers. Threads woven together into pictures of angels, of lamps and fire and spiders skittering along the borders. His pace quickens, unwilling to be even be near the depictions of the arachnids.

Sounds behind him. He halts, though the sounds did not. He turns, looks, bolts, streaking down the frustratingly infinite hallway, escaping from the small shadows that now scurried along the floor. Movement out of the corner of his eye, and he looks.

Dark hair, like his, messy curls flopping down into the boy’s face. Laughter. Skittering. Shadows. _Spiders._

Heart racing, the beats matching pounding footfalls. The hallway is so long. He’s running, sprinting, shadows chasing, now biting as his heels. Fear. Adrenaline. He pours anger into his mad dash, adding energy. Wind biting at his cheeks, eyes beginning to water. Skin cold, sweat on his face. Breaths short, muscles beginning to burn.

Shadows still, legs now distinguishable. Thousands of legs, thousands of bodies. Small spheres with teeth and so many legs. Something ahead, white, like silk, stretching from wall to wall. He runs, confused, knowing something is wrong but unable to stop.

Spiderwebs, thick and sticky. He ran straight into it, ducking his head, hoping that maybe he can barrel through it. He’s caught, snared, frozen. The shadows climb, surrounding him, turning the gray walls pitch black. Heart pounding, mouth agape, nearly howling with terror. Darkness, surrounding, consuming. Something streams into his mouth and he’s gone, falling into the black.

Nothing now. He can feel himself kneeling, doubled over, arms around his middle. No sound, the silence deep, unsettling. His legs ache, heart still pounding. Confusion, fear, uncertainty. Regret, bitterness, anger. Guilt. Something on his shoulder.

A knife in his hand. He uses it, stabbing the blade upwards. Connecting, sinking into tissue. Warmth spreads over his fingers, crimson. A single word gasped between lips, straining, cutting through the silence.

"Brother?"

His head lifts. Shock. Regret. Guilt. _No no no please not again please._ Blood blooming through cloth, sinking down and dripping to the floor. Blade between ribs, hands beginning to shake, grow weak.

He’s on his feet, catching the younger brother before he can fall. No words this time, just pained gasps that quickly fade. Softly weeping, sinking to his knees once more, the body falling with him. Shoulders shake. Dark curls over sightless eyes, lips slightly parted, head tilting back.

Sound once more, sudden and abrupt. Startles him, looking up. An oasis, tucked beside a cliff. Sunlight streaming down, trees filtering white light into green. The body is gone, now resting on a stump beside the pool. Bright eyes gaze at him, a curl in his lips, shoulders loose, legs crossed. Clothes unstained.

”..Adakias?”

The curl turns into a smile, head tilting.

"Pallis."

A voice he knew he’d never hear again, now singing through the air. Words stick inside his throat, and somehow that single word is more painful than what he’d done just moments ago. Composure breaks, breaths growing heavy, sobs breaking through once more.

"Please don’t cry."

His head bows, unable to comply with his brother’s last wish.

"I’m so— sorry, I didn’t.. mean…"

"I know."

Words, gentle, warm, understanding. A hand on his shoulder. He doesn’t lift his head. Adakias squats down next to him. Warmth once more, but this is comforting, not like the sticky mess he’d felt before. It felt like the sun, wonderful when he’d first stepped into the light.

"What’s wrong?"

"I— _killed_ you.”

"Yes. And what’s wrong with that?"

"You should have lived. I should have just listened and let you go. You were so happy in the Light and I was just so angry, I couldn’t…"

"Everyone dies. It doesn’t matter when or how. Yes, you should have listened, but the world would have been deprived of its chance to heal."

A pause, blurry gaze lifting to meet his brother’s.

"What do you mean?"

"You were right. I wasn’t the chosen one. You are. I was just the.. what did he call it.. the catalyst. It’s up to you now to make sure that the divided halves are reunited.”

Shock, silence falling briefly between the two as he tries to take that in. It’s not an impossible feat, but difficult, for sure. Adakias nods, as if he is thinking the same thing.

"Anhura will help. I know she will."

"Where do I start?"

"Where you must. You can do this. I believe in you."

Tears threaten to spill once more, realization hitting that Adakias had never been told that. How little support he had gotten from his older brother, and yet he still managed to break away, to flourish and grow bright on the opposite side of the mountains. And Pallis had snuffed that light like it was nothing more than a candle flame.

Adakias stands, warmth retreating, air shimmering.

"Gotta go."

"Wait!"

The younger brother looks down at the elder, patient, expectant. He wants to say that Adakias can’t go, can’t leave, not now. He might be gone in body, but please, please don’t leave like this too.

But he has to be let go. Pallis knows this.

"…I really am sorry."

"I know."

A smile is cast down, gentle, sad, though forgiving. Shoulders roll back, body turning, feet moving. The light grows brighter, twisting around Adakias’s back. Something is there, large, sweeping.

Wings. Adakias has wings. Golden, sunset crimsons, pale oranges, pure whites, six in count. The light grows, nearly blinding now. One final word, soft, like a breeze.

”Goodbye.”

Eyes open to nothing. He’s in bed. Face is cold, sweat beading on his face. Eyes burning; he’s been crying. A sniff, sitting up and wiping away the tears. Mind races back through the dream, to his brother’s words. Skeptical, he’s unsure if he should really follow the advice that was given.

He contemplates, noticing the peace that begins to settle around him. An ache sinks in his bones, in his chest. A sigh, head dropping so his fingers can run through his hair. Rubs at his eyes, letting himself sit in relative silence, wondering at what to do now.

He’ll find and talk to Anhura. Maybe they can strike up an alliance between the two halves, tear down the mountains, rejoin the world. It’s what Adakias wanted.

Gaze turns, staring out the window.

_You can do it. I believe in you._

Sadness pulls at his heart, though guilt began to loosen its hold on him. He has been forgiven. He knows it.

"Goodbye, Adakias."


End file.
